The Healthcare Technology Report is pleased to announce the Top 25 Women Leaders in Consumer HealthTech of 2021. From developing new technologies and products for often overlooked areas of women’s health, to addressing inefficiencies in payment and insurance processes, to finding new ways to manage chronic conditions, to many other areas, these women have continued to push the boundaries of what’s achievable in the field of healthcare. This year’s awardees include company founders, CEOs, and other leaders who were nominated among hundreds of other notable executives. They were selected because they stood out in their dedication to the advancement of their companies, their longevity in the healthcare field, and their professional achievements.
This year’s awardees began and developed their careers from a variety of backgrounds, including business development, legal counsel, product development, nursing, and more, leveraging their prior experiences to inform best practices within their current roles. Now in C-suite and executive leadership positions, they go above and beyond the call of duty to work with non-profits, trade organizations, and advisory boards that are working to address critical healthcare needs. Most notably, they have kept the patient experience at the heart of everything they do by predicting user needs, working directly with clinicians, and integrating data insights. Please join us in recognizing The Top 25 Women Leaders in Consumer HealthTech of 2021.
1. Hilary Coles
Company: Hims & Hers
Title: Co-Founder and SVP of Brand and Innovation
Hilary Coles is a Co-Founder and the SVP of Brand and Innovation at Hims & Hers, a wellness company that gives easy access to medical-grade products that aren’t always in reach. Since launching in November 2017, the company has been making waves in the industry, and for good reason. As of 2020, its platform has facilitated more than two million medical visits and is valued at more than $1.6 billion. Notably, Hims & Hers has also started normalizing conversations about topics such as hair loss, erectile dysfunction, birth control, and sex drive changes. To date, the company has raised $200 million in funding and is one of the fastest-growing direct-to-consumer brands in history.
As VP of Product, Coles is responsible for product development and setting up the overall strategy for promoting the company's many offerings. Originally, Coles was inspired to create a company like Hims & Hers after seeing how restrictive the U.S. medical system was in comparison to her home country of Canada, where access to universal healthcare was the norm. She began her career at Atomic, a venture capital fund and incubator in San Francisco, California. Through their Founder-in-Residence program, Coles was introduced to Hims & Hers CEO Andrew Dudum. She then joined the Hims & Hers team as a Founder-in-Residence. Coles received her Master of Business Administration degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in 2016.
2. Jill Kinney
Company: Active Wellness
Title: Co-Founder and Chairman
Jill Kinney is the Chairman for Active Wellness, which she founded in 2014 along with President and CEO Bill McBride and Chief Financial Officer Carey White. Active Wellness is an award-winning fitness design and wellness services management company serving more than 50 corporate, community, medical, and tenant amenity fitness partners across North America.
A visionary leader in the health and fitness industry, Kinney was named America’s #1 Female Club Entrepreneur for building the $90 million Club One business (100 clubs across the U.S. with 3,000 employees). She has served on industry boards including IHRSA, the American Council on Exercise, Shape Magazine, and numerous fitness start-ups. She earned the IHRSA Distinguished Service Award, was inducted into the Wellness Revolution Hall of Fame, and is the newly elected Chairman of The Buck Institute for Research on Aging. Kinney earned her degree in business at the University of California, Berkeley.
3. Laura Chambers
Company: Willow
Title: Chief Executive Officer
Laura Chambers is the Chief Executive Officer of Willow, the creator of the world's first quiet, all-in-one, in-bra wearable breast pump. Launched in 2014 as a direct-to-consumer brand, Willow’s proprietary technology allows for moms to ditch the long tubes, cords, dangling bottles, and loud sounds that keep them from being mobile. Because of the strong demand for its products, Willow has since expanded to distribution via retail and insurance channels. In April 2021, the company announced that it nabbed an additional $26.8 million in funding through a Series C Extension round, bringing the femtech’s total Series C investment to $81.8 million.
As a mother of three, Chambers is especially passionate about Willow's mission to ease the strain on motherhood. Before she was Willow's CEO, Chambers worked for some of the biggest companies in Silicon Valley. Previously she was at Airbnb, where she served as general manager of the Core Hosts business. Before Airbnb, Chambers spent over 13 years holding various leadership roles at eBay, PayPal, Skype, and McKinsey & Co. Currently, Chambers also serves on the Board of Mozilla Corp. In 2000, she received a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in commerce and arts from the University of Melbourne. In 2005, she received a Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford University.
4. Helena Plater-Zyberk
Company: Supportiv
Title: Co-Founder and CEO
Helena Plater-Zyberk is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Supportiv, the digital peer-to-peer support service that serves 2.5 million members for large employers and health plans and has already helped over 750,000 individuals cope with, heal from, and problem-solve struggles like anxiety, depression, loneliness, social isolation, and stress. Supportiv lowers the typical cost of mental health care by 10X and delivers clinical-grade outcomes in a zero-barrier, consumer-friendly service. Supportiv won 1st place at the most recent SXSW pitch competition, awarded for its notable cultural and societal impact.
Plater-Zyberk is the former CEO of SimpleTherapy, the AI-driven at-home physical therapy alternative. Previously, she was an executive director for Scholastic's education tech and services unit, and a director of strategy and consumer insights at Condé Nast. She is former Rotary Scholar, a 1st place winner of the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures grant, and previously won the international Swiss Re “Entrepreneurs for Resilience” Award. Plater-Zyberk received her Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia University, and her Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations and economics from American University.
5. Jo Aggarwal
Company: Wysa
Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Jo Aggarwal is a Co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Wysa, a global leader in AI-driven mental health support. Wysa has facilitated over 100 million conversations in 65 countries across the globe. Wysa offers support to both individuals and employers via AI-guided self-management and custom care pathways. Previously, Aggarwal was the managing director of Pearson Learning Solutions in the U.K., where she was recognized by the eLearning Center in the U.K. as one of the top three thought-leaders in education technology globally.
In 2009, Aggarwal left her corporate career to join the founding team of Silatech, a UN-backed organization that uses technology to address root causes of terrorism by bringing jobs to youth in post-conflict Arab countries such as Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Egypt. Her work on mobile employability has helped connect over one million young people to skills and jobs and won a Silver at the Stevie Awards, as well as the Global Telecom Business Innovation award in 2013. Aggarwal is a Trustee of the Rural Edge Trust and an advisor to employability startups Edureka and Aspiring Minds. Starting her career in the Tata group’s leadership cadre (TAS), Aggarwal has served as an expert advisor to the National Skills Development Council in India. She received her bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi.
6. Kate Rosenbluth
Company: Cala Health
Title: Founder, Member of the Board of Directors, and Chief Scientific Officer
Kate Rosenbluth – engineer and neuroscientist – is a Founder, Member of the Board of Directors, and Chief Scientific Officer at Cala Health, a bioelectronic medicine company transforming the standard of care for chronic disease. As a Stanford Biodesign Fellow, Rosenbluth was captivated by the unmet need to treat hand tremors – impacting 7 million Americans, whose options were partially effective pharmacotherapies or brain surgery. She discovered that the site of deep brain stimulation was accessible through the peripheral nerves in the wrist. Together with Scott Delp, Director of the Stanford Neuromuscular Biomechanics Laboratory, she found the therapeutic potential for using stimulation on the surface of the wrist to interrupt the tremulous signal driving the tremor. In 2018, the FDA cleared the proprietary electrode that was incorporated into Cala Trio™ which was released to market that same year.
Rosenbluth previously worked on cutting-edge neurotherapies at Stanford Biodesign, UCSF Neurosurgery, Brainlab, Autonomic Technologies, and Genentech. She was chosen as one of Fortune's 40 Under 40 (2020) as an innovator in wearable bioelectronics, neuroscience, and 21st-century healthcare delivery. Rosenbluth received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and a PhD in bioengineering from UC Berkeley and UCSF, where she also completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Neurosurgery.
7. Stella Kim
Company: Mixlab
Title: Co-founder and Chief Experience Officer
Stella Kim is the Co-founder and Chief Experience Officer of Mixlab, the modern pet pharmacy that creates a delightful, best-in-class pharmacy experience for veterinarians and pet parents alike. Rated 5 stars across all channels, Mixlab provides the highest level of service, with fast turnaround time, joyful personalized care packages, and digital communications to create lasting relationships. Mixlab was co-founded in 2017 by a team of innovators with deep experience in healthcare, pharmacy, and experience design, with a shared belief that pets are family and deserve the same level of care as humans.
At Mixlab, Kim oversees engineering, design, product, and marketing. Prior to Mixlab, she spent a decade leading user experience and design initiatives for brands and agencies like Gilt, Razorfish, IBM, and NBC Sports & Olympics. Kim holds a master’s degree from ITP, the technology design program at NYU Tisch, and a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in fine art from the Chelsea College of Art Design in London, where she focused on human and animal behavior.
8. Linda Hanna
Company: Mahmee
Title: Co-Founder and Chief Nursing Officer
Linda Hanna, RNC, MSN/Ed., IBCLC, is a registered nurse, lactation, and maternal health pioneer. She is the Co-founder and Chief Nursing Officer at Mahmee (mahmee.com), a platform for moms backed by Serena Williams and Mark Cuban that lets hospitals, health partners, and parents closely coordinate comprehensive prenatal and postpartum care so that no mom or baby falls through the gaps in the healthcare system.
Hanna is a veteran healthcare expert who pioneered the world-class maternity and lactation programs at Kaiser Permanente, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and other health systems. The programs created offer parents-to-be a wealth of information about preparing for childbirth, as well as breastfeeding and baby care. Hanna has over 40 years of clinical experience, has helped over 100,000 moms and babies, and is one of LA’s premiere lactation consultants. She grew up in Queens, New York and earned her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from SUNY Stonybrook. Hanna has been a registered nurse since 1978.
9. Sahar Arshad
Company: CloudMedx
Title: Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer
Sahar Arshad is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at CloudMedx, an AI company that is committed to making healthcare more personalized and accessible than ever before. The company has deployments in some of the best health systems and leading payers in the country, has won numerous awards, and is recognized as a global leader in healthcare AI by various industry reports. As a founding member of CloudMedx, Arshad has been involved in the company’s success from day one - forming multi-million-dollar partnerships, large-scale enterprise deployments, fundraising, cultivating culture, and operations. As a Board Member, she is instrumental in important decisions and strategic direction of the company. Over the last year, Arshad has been critical in mobilizing her teams to partner and develop tools for government officials, healthcare providers, community leaders and the people to track and predict the impacts of COVID-19, vaccine distribution, and social determinants of health.
Arshad has 17 years of experience in technology development, management, and commercialization at software, hardware, and health-tech companies in multiple countries. She has provided mentorship for the YC Fellowship program and is one of the early representatives of the PWiC Silicon Valley Chapter – a global community of women in technology roles. Under her leadership, CloudMedx has won the “Best Overall Connected Healthcare Solution" at GITEX 2019, the MEDy 2018 award for the “Most Convergent” company at Exponential Medicine, and many other global awards as a “global disruptor.” Her work has been featured in numerous industry reports including Forbes, MedGadget, Medical Futurist, Beckers Hospital Review, etc. Arshad received her Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Pakistan.
10. Jennifer Ernst
Company: Tivic Health
Title: Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
Jennifer Ernst is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Tivic Health, a commercial phase bioelectronic company based in Silicon Valley. Under Ernst’s leadership, Tivic Health launched its first product, ClearUP, a non-invasive bioelectronic device for treating moderate to severe congestion and allergy-related sinus pain. Tivic Health has secured three regulatory clearances for ClearUP, including FDA 510(k), FDA De Novo, and CE Mark, four patents, and numerous awards since its founding in 2016.
Ernst has more than 20 years of experience in the commercialization of breakthrough innovation and a history of developing markets from frontier technologies. As CEO of the U.S. subsidiary of Thin Film Electronics, she helped build the company from eight people to 130, achieved a $480 million market cap in five years, and launched international award-winning products. Prior to this, she held various positions at Xerox PARC, positioning research for productization through strategic partnerships and licensing. Ernst served as chairperson of Flex, the U.S. National Consortium for Flexible and Printed Electronics, now part of SEMI, and participated in the launch of the Global Women’s Leadership Network. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Francisco State University and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Santa Clara University.
11. Karen Martell
Company: Alto Pharmacy
Title: Vice President and General Manager of Endocrinology
Karen Martell is the Vice President and General Manager of Endocrinology at Alto Pharmacy, a telehealth pharmacy, which functions as a full-service pharmacy without a physical store. Over the last year, Alto has seen strong growth and interest, raising $250 million in funding that has aided the expansion into numerous major cities across the U.S. So far, this fast-growing pharmacy has helped customers save more than $40 million on medications, increased medication adherence rates 30%+ over the industry average, and has filled more than 1.5 million prescriptions. Alto was founded in 2015.
Martell began her tenure at Alto in 2018, initially serving as general manager of the company's Fertility branch, where she focused on increasing market share among reproductive health clinics in the San Francisco area. Before that, Martell spent nearly a decade working in companies around the world, including multiple global positions at Square. In addition, for nearly seven years she was a volunteer for Start-Up Chile, an innovative non-profit program of the Chilean government that has attracted world-class entrepreneurs to start-up operations in Chile. In 2005, she began her career at SNP Communications, serving as a communications and management consultant to the firm. Martell received a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations followed by a Master of Arts degree in communications from Stanford University.
12. Andrea Pearson
Company: DispatchHealth
Title: Chief Growth Officer
Chief Growth Officer Andrea Pearson drives consumer awareness and national growth at DispatchHealth, a leading provider of technology-enabled, in-home healthcare on track to deliver care in more than 100 markets and generate more than $2 billion in medical savings before 2023. She is one of the most fluid thinkers in healthcare technology, bringing strategic thought and deep understanding to consumer healthcare.
Pearson leads with compassion and integrity to create respectful, high-functioning, and inclusive teams. She has 30 years of leadership and product development experience with technology organizations pioneering consumerism – from how we buy cars and get directions to consumer-driven healthcare – and she has an extensive track record of scaling new marketplaces. Pearson has served in executive roles and drove the growth of Healthgrades.com to reach more than one million daily visitors. She also held leadership roles, including serving as General Manager at AOL's Mapquest.com, where she helped drive service growth from 15 million monthly visitors to 80+ million. AOL recognized Pearson in the top 1% of its employees. With innovation top of mind, Pearson is a trailblazer and encourages those around her to level up their outputs. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in technical journalism from Colorado State University.
13. Blaire Bernard
Company: Iora Health
Title: Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Blaire Bernard is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Iora Health, a Boston-based private healthcare company that specializes in primary care for older adults on Medicare. Since 2011, Iora has sought to disrupt the healthcare industry by introducing its value-based primary care model. Instead of getting paid on a service-by-service basis, Iora is paid a predetermined amount for the care provided to its primary care patients. The results are undeniable. With a two-year compound annual growth rate of over 70%, the company now boasts at least 48 practices across the U.S. serving thousands of Medicare beneficiaries.
Bernard joined Iora in 2016 to lead its legal operations and compliance program. As the company's first in-house attorney, she has been instrumental in helping Iora navigate the company’s explosive growth. In total, she has nearly two decades' worth of healthcare law experience in private and in-house practices. Before joining Iora, she had worked in-house for 10 years under the leadership of three different general counsels. She served as in-house counsel at the Lahey Health System, a multi-site, academic medical center, and NxStage Medical, a high-growth, for-profit healthcare provider. She started her career as an associate in the healthcare group of Ropes & Gray. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from Dartmouth College, Bernard joined the American Medical Association’s Council on Ethical & Judicial Affairs and was encouraged by an attorney there to pursue a legal career. She studied at the Boston University School of Law, earning her Juris Doctor degree in 2002.
14. Amanda Baldwin
Company: Supergoop!
Title: Chief Executive Officer
Amanda Baldwin is the CEO of Supergoop!, the first protective skincare brand that puts SPF at the forefront. The brand’s mission is to change the way the world thinks about sunscreen through its clean, feel-good, highly innovative formulas that are fun and easy to use daily — not to mention superpowered to shield your skin from the full spectrum of light and other aggressors. Amanda oversees the entirety of the organization, setting its strategy for growth, building a world class team and leading the company’s marketing, sales, product development, operations and finance divisions.
Amanda is a veteran of the beauty industry, and before joining Supergoop!, she was a member of the operating team at L Catterton, the largest global consumer-focused investment fund, collaborating with management teams across the portfolio with a particular focus on the beauty sector. Amanda earned an A.B. magna cum laude Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College and an M.B.A. with honors from The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania, where she was a Palmer Scholar.
15. Cathrin Bowtell
Company: Candid
Title: President
Cathrin Bowtell is the President of Candid, the orthodontist-led clear aligner company raising the standard of care in tele-orthodontics. Under her leadership, Candid has launched industry-leading innovations in patient care and monitoring; scaled diagnostic collection locations (Candid Studios) across the country, including into many doctor practices; and continuously up-leveled differentiated clinical standards and launched numerous new offerings, including in 2020 Candid PRO, the professional offering customized for dentists and orthodontists. Bowtell is deeply focused on the company’s growth strategy, brand, and patient experience, as well as talent and culture initiatives.
Prior to her impressive tenure at Candid, Bowtell held a number of executive roles at start-ups in the experiential wellness space, including leading the development of a retail fitness concept under Tough Mudder’s global brand and driving strategy for U.S.-based spin concept Flywheel Sports. Bowtell began her career at L’Oreal in brand management and post graduate school, at The Boston Consulting Group, in strategy consulting. She holds a Bachelor of Business degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia Business School.
16. Alison Dipilla
Company: IBH – Integrated Behavioral Health
Title: Chief Operating Officer
Alison Dipilla is an accomplished healthcare executive who currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at IBH – Integrated Behavioral Health, one of the nation’s leading behavioral health, digital EAP, and chronic condition providers. As COO, Dipilla is responsible for all of IBH’s operations and implementing and strengthening its patient-centered and individualized treatment approach to care for over 8 million members and families across the United States. At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last year, Dipilla was instrumental in developing and executing a remote-based streamlined call center to link IBH’s national provider branches to field calls so there was no disruption of service to patient care. While simultaneously integrating these new programs across all branches and departments within IBH, Dipilla continues to lead the operational processes to support the company’s strategic direction to deliver patient-centered services, with anytime, anywhere access.
Dipilla distinguishes herself as a healthcare executive with her over 25 years of experience and has served in other executive roles, including overseeing behavioral health, employee assistance programs, and wellness programs at Humana, Inc. She stepped into her first leadership role at the age of 28 and grew from managing teams of 15 to 45 people to now managing a national team at IBH of over 100 employees across the United States. Last year, Dipilla was recognized by D Magazine as an Outstanding Healthcare Executive and she has been a board member of several organizations including the Japan America Society of Greater Cincinnati and the Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education.
17. Erin Bartley
Company: Medically Home
Title: Chief Operating Officer
Erin Bartley is the Chief Operating Officer of Medically Home, a company that offers turn-key solutions to hospital-at-home providers. Under Medically Home's model, health systems monitor their patients 24/7 using physicians and nurses working in medical command centers. Patients and their families have access to hospital-level medical services (ranging from IV therapies, oxygen treatments, and lab tests to X-rays and ultrasounds) without having to leave their homes, and without the stress, loss of privacy, and potential isolation of hospitalization. With headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, the company was founded in 2016. Since then, it has seen extraordinary success, including the news that in May 2021 the Mayo Clinic and Kaiser Permanente invested $100 million in the startup.
Bartley has been serving as COO for Medically Home since August 2020. In her new role, she is responsible for overseeing customer implementation and account teams focused on partnering with health systems across the country. Bartley is a healthcare executive who has spent over 18 years in consulting with health systems and hospitals to achieve financial and operational improvements. Her last position was as managing director for the Huron Consulting Group, a position she held for over 5 years. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan.
18. Marisa Trichter
Company: Lifesum
Title: Head of U.S. Operations & Director of Business Development
Marisa Trichter is the Head of U.S. Operations & Director of Business Development for Lifesum, a Stockholm-based digital health startup. Lifesum provides a health app designed to help users keep track of their dietary and fitness habits. The company was launched in 2015. By April 2021, Lifesum announced a new growth milestone, exceeding 50 million registered users. Making this rapid growth even more impressive, Lifesum grew its user base across the globe, spanning 250 countries and engaging in 11 different languages.
In Trichter's current role at Lifesum, she is responsible for managing relationships and collaborating with top-tier companies such as Apple, Google, Samsung, Amazon, Nike, and GE. Trichter assumed the position in April of 2020, after being promoted from her previous position as a business development manager for Lifesum. She has spent over a decade working in marketing at some of the biggest companies in the country, including 21st Century Fox and Johnson & Johnson. Prior to Lifesum, Trichter served as a growth marketing consultant for Headspace Inc., a marketing manager at Laurel & Wolf, and a retail coordinator for Saban Brands. She is also a dedicated volunteer for several non-profits, including Allies for Every Child, AIDS Walk LA, and Venice Family Clinic Art Walk. Trichter holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history from Rutgers University and in 2013 she earned her Master of Arts degree in art history and business from Temple University.
19. Devika Mohabir
Company: Territory Foods
Title: Vice President of Operations
Devika Mohabir leads operations for the innovative food-tech start-up, Territory Foods. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Territory Foods is a fresh take on the food preparation and distribution industry. The company provides chef-prepared meals with nutritionist-approved menus to support dietary preferences, powered by a proprietary personalization algorithm. With Mohabir’s expertise, Territory Foods has grown its footprint significantly since its founding in 2011, adding 5 major markets in 2020, amid the global pandemic.
Mohabir’s unique background across conventional marketing and merchandising, to online meal delivery services, has allowed her to design a flexible and adaptable operations strategy for Territory Foods. Known for her exceptional people management and complex problem-solving skills, she has led the company through multiple phases of change. Mohabir’s expertise in flexible operations is especially important as the company pursues a strategy serving not only individual customers but corporations, institutions, and healthcare systems at scale. Before joining Territory Foods, she founded her own eCommerce food company focused on paleo eaters and worked at major corporations like Target. Mohabir received a Bachelor of Science degree in geology from Gustavus Adolphus College.
20. Julia Millard
Company: Bright.md
Title: VP of Customer Success and Services
Julia Millard is a customer-focused, healthcare software executive bringing over 15 years of experience to Bright.md, a virtual care company recently named 2021’s Best Overall Telehealth Solution by MedTech Breakthrough. As VP of Customer Success and Services, Millard partners with leading health systems to develop their digital health strategies to improve patient and provider engagement, increase patient access to care, and drive operational efficiencies. Under her leadership, Bright.md’s customer base has grown by over 1000%, and she has helped engage more consumers with access to better care: 90% of patients who have used Bright.md would like to use it again.
Millard’s deep background in introducing new technologies to transform care delivery includes experience in healthcare IT implementation at Epic, along with healthcare IT and operational experience at Providence Health & Services in Portland, Oregon. Millard is an active member of the American Telehealth Association Policy Council and serves as the President of the Oregon Chapter of HIMSS, focused on developing the health tech space in Oregon and mentoring upcoming leaders in the industry. Millard holds a Master of Business Administration degree with honors from the ESMT European School of Management and Technology and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Chicago.
21. Melanie Gittiban
Company: Vesta Healthcare
Title: Chief Operating Officer
Melanie Gittiban is the Chief Operating Officer at Vesta Healthcare, a leading healthcare technology company. Vesta Healthcare connects members and their caregivers with engaging technology, advanced data and analytics, and virtual clinical care delivery to monitor, support, and intervene at the moments that matter. Its proactive and coordinated model has proven to improve care outcomes, lower costs, and keep people healthy from the comfort of home while achieving high satisfaction from members. Since joining Vesta Healthcare in early 2020, Gittiban has led the build-out of new member and caregiver engagement programs, integrated virtual clinical models, and driven close to 10x growth in onboarded and engaged members.
A senior executive with over 25 years of experience in the consumer healthcare industry, Gittiban has a strong track record of success growing companies. Prior to joining Vesta, Gittiban served as the executive vice president at Remedy Partners, responsible for the national operational management of acute/post-acute care redesign and the implementation of bundled payment programs. She previously held leadership roles at Remedy Partners, Fort Worth Renal Group, and Cantex Continuing Care Network. Gittiban received her Bachelor of Science degree in healthcare administration from the University of Texas at Arlington.
22. Claudia Huapaya
Company: Calibrate
Title: Chief Operating Officer
Claudia Huapaya is the Chief Operating Officer at Calibrate, a New York-based company dedicated to changing the way the world treats weight. Calibrate is a one-year digital program that connects patients with board-certified metabolic health specialists who can prescribe necessary medications and with accountability coaches who can support lifestyle tweaks to help members reach a healthy weight and achieve success beyond the scale.
Prior to Calibrate, Huapaya served as an operations leader at various consumer brands, including Rent the Runway. She held several roles at the disruptive fashion rental company, including VP of customer experience and retail after serving as VP of operations and strategy. Before RTR, she spent nearly a decade at AOL working in the venture portfolio, building out its lifestyle brands, and ultimately overseeing operations and monetization for its core brands. Huapaya received her Bachelor of Science degree in management from Boston College.
23. Samantha Pulliam
Company: Renovia
Title: Chief Medical Officer
Samantha Pulliam, MD is the Chief Medical Officer for Renovia, a women-led company that develops digital therapeutics for female pelvic floor disorders. Renovia created the leva® Digital Therapeutic, a vaginal device connected to a smartphone app that offers women a non-invasive way to train and strengthen their pelvic floor muscles for the treatment of Urinary Incontinence (UI). Following a successful academic and clinical career, Dr. Pulliam joined Renovia in 2017 to satisfy her passion for helping the 20 million U.S. women with UI, a vastly under-treated condition. Dr. Pulliam directs Renovia’s clinical research, including the early completion of virtual clinical trials for leva during the global pandemic.
Dr. Pulliam was previously the division director for Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (FPMRS) at UNC-Chapel Hill and associate director for FPMRS at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She was past council chair for the American Urogynecologic Society and remains active in its mentorship program. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Duke University and her Medical Degree from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She completed residency training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Fellowship training at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Boston. She is board-certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and FPMRS.
24. Jana M. Goldberg
Company: Heartbeat Health
Title: Medical Director
Dr. Jana Goldberg is the Medical Director for Heartbeat Health, a virtual cardiovascular care company. Heartbeat’s mission is to enable the most effective, efficient, and engaging cardiovascular care in the world through its mobile-based platform that maximizes cardiac care in the virtual space, engaging patients and providers. Heartbeat has managed tens of thousands of patients to date with this virtual-first model. As a leader within her company, Dr. Goldberg brings a wealth of experience in the cardiovascular space to scale the company nationally, build the highest standards of cardiac care, and contribute to the literature, specifically the impact of virtual cardiology on patient outcomes. She believes in a hands-on approach from working with clinicians to product, engineering, and business development teams, to ensure clinical quality is pervasive throughout the company. Dr. Goldberg also believes in the power of mentorship to her younger colleagues and leading by example.
Before joining Heartbeat in 2019, she was an assistant professor of clinical medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She received her medical degree and training from Tufts University School of Medicine prior to completing a cardiovascular disease fellowship and a chief fellowship year at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
25. Natasha Bond
Company: Sana Health
Title: Chief Operating Officer
Natasha Bond is the Chief Operating Officer for Sana Health, a digital health company driven by 25 years of research into relief for symptoms of chronic pain and insomnia. The Sana Sleep Mask is comprised of a mask with earbuds. Tailored to each individual, the device provides relief in just 10 minutes through the use of audio-visual neuromodulation. Currently, the mask is undergoing FDA certification and clinical trials at Duke University for fibromyalgia, and a broader neuropathy study at Mount Sinai Health System in New York.
As COO, Bond most enjoys the breadth of her role and sheer power of the technology the company is working on. At Sana, she is responsible for development, operations, quality, and regulatory functions. She joined the company in 2018, bringing with her nearly 20 years of experience in bringing novel medical technologies to market. Prior to coming on board at Sana, Bond founded Ikigai Medical Development and held various roles with Nordson Medical and Vention Medical, developing and bringing to market dozens of devices. She is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and has acted as an advisor, educator, and mentor through eight accelerator/incubator organizations to dozens of medical device start-ups. Bond graduated from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology with a Master of Engineering degree in mechanical engineering.
